WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Washington Wizards announced their 2013-14 regular season schedule today, including their home opener on Friday, Nov. 1, against the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Wizards tip off the season on the road when they visit the Pistons on Wednesday, Oct. 30, in Detroit. Overall, the Wizards will play 22 of their 41 home games on the weekend (Friday-Sunday), with 20 of those coming on Friday (7 games) and Saturday (13 games).

Highlights of the 2013-14 schedule include visits from the 2013 NBA Champion Miami Heat on Jan. 15 and Apr. 14, the Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 8 and Mar. 15, the lone visits of the New York Knicks (Nov. 23), Los Angeles Clippers (Dec. 14), Los Angeles Lakers (Nov. 26), Houston Rockets (Jan. 11) and the Oklahoma City Thunder (Feb. 1) and a nationally-televised game against Cleveland on February 7 (ESPN). The Wizards will also host two holiday games this season, including a New Year’s Day matchup against the Dallas Mavericks and a Martin Luther King Day matinee against the Philadelphia 76ers. The home finale will take place on April 14 when the Wizards host the Heat prior to finishing the season with a road game at Boston on April 16.

The Wizards will have two five-game homestands during the season and will host two sets of back-to-back home games (Jan. 17/18 vs. Chicago/Detroit and Mar. 28/29 vs. Indiana/Atlanta). The team’s two longest road trips will take place from Jan. 24-29 when they head west to visit Phoenix, Utah, Golden State and the L.A. Clippers and then from Mar. 18-23 when they travel to play at Sacramento, Portland, the L.A. Lakers and Denver. The Wizards will play a span of eight games in 12 days from Nov. 19-30, comprising their most condensed portion of the 2013-14 schedule.

Each team in the Eastern Conference will visit Verizon Center twice with the exception of Indiana (Mar. 28) and New York (Nov. 23), while the Wizards will visit Brooklyn (Dec. 18) and Chicago (Jan. 13) only once during the regular season.

All home games will tip off at 7:00 p.m., with the exception of the New Year’s Day game vs. Dallas (6:00 p.m.), the Martin Luther King Day game vs. Philadelphia (2:00 p.m.), Sunday games on Jan. 5 vs. Golden State and Feb. 9 vs. Sacramento (6:00 p.m.) and an 8:00 p.m. start vs. Atlanta on March 29 (which will be preceded by a Capitals home game at 12:30 p.m.)

ARLINGTON, Va. – The National Hockey League today announced the 2013-14 regular-season schedule for its 30 member clubs. The Washington Capitals will open the season against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Tuesday, Oct. 1, with the first home game of the campaign set for Thursday, Oct. 3, against the Calgary Flames at 7 p.m. at Verizon Center.

Effective this season, the NHL will operate under a new divisional alignment and scheduling matrix that ensures all 30 teams play in all 30 arenas at least once each season. In creating more geographically-appropriate groupings, the NHL now has two eight-team divisions in the Eastern Conference and two seven-team divisions in the Western Conference. The Capitals will be in the Metropolitan Division with Columbus, Carolina, New Jersey, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins.

The NHL will pause from Feb. 9-25, 2014, while NHL players comprise the majority of the rosters of the national teams competing in Sochi for Olympic gold.

The Capitals will host the 11-time Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings at Verizon Center on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 2 at 12:30 p.m. It will mark the fourth time in the past five years that the Capitals will play on Super Bowl Sunday.

Washington has six homestands of at least three games on the schedule, the longest being a five-game stretch at Verizon Center from Oct. 10-19. The Capitals have five stretches of at least three straight road games and two season-high five-game road trips from Oct. 22-Nov. 1 and Jan. 24-31, respectively. In addition, the Capitals will have 17 sets of back-to-back games.

Nearly half of the Capitals’ 41 home games at Verizon Center fall on weekends, which includes six games on Friday, eight on Saturday and seven on Sunday. The schedule features holiday home games on Columbus Day (Oct. 14 vs. Edmonton), the day before and the day after Thanksgiving (Nov. 27 vs. Ottawa; Nov. 29 vs. Montreal) and Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 2 vs. Detroit).

Television broadcast plans will be released at a later date. All Capitals games can be heard on Caps Radio Network and WashingtonCaps.com.

Home dates to remember:• Oct. 3 – Home opener at Verizon Center versus the Calgary Flames.• Oct. 14 – A Columbus Day tilt versus the Edmonton Oilers.• Oct. 16 – The New York Rangers make their way to Verizon Center for the first time since the ECQF.• Nov. 20 – The Pittsburgh Penguins make their first visit of the season to D.C.• Jan. 2 – The Capitals kick off 2014 when they host the division rival Carolina Hurricanes at Verizon Center.• Feb. 2 – On Super Bowl Sunday the 11-time Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings make their way to D.C.• Mar. 10 – Washington hosts Pittsburgh for the second and final time of the regular season.• Apr. 11 – Washington welcomes the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks.• April 13 – Washington concludes the regular-season home schedule at Verizon Center versus Tampa Bay.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have released their 2013 preseason schedule, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today. The schedule will feature eight games against five opponents and will include three games at Verizon Center and a home and home series against both Stanley Cup finalists.

Washington will face the Winnipeg Jets in the NHL’s Kraft Hockeyville event from Stirling-Rawdon, Ontario, on Sept. 14, with more information about the game to be released by the NHL at a later date. The Capitals will open their home preseason schedule against the Boston Bruins in the Baltimore Hockey Classic at 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore on September 17.

The Caps will travel to Philadelphia to face-off against the Flyers on Sept. 16. The team’s preseason home opener at Verizon Center is Friday, Sept. 20 against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Capitals will then travel to Boston on Sept. 23 before returning home to face the Nashville Predators on Sept. 25 and the Philadelphia Flyers on Sept. 27 at Verizon Center. Washington will conclude its preseason schedule in Chicago on Saturday, Sept. 28.

The Capitals were 3-3-1 in the preseason in 2011, and their all-time preseason record is 143-115-29-10.

All preseason games will be carried via WashingtonCaps.com, with selected games to be broadcast on 106.7 The Fan and WFED-AM 1500. The full preseason broadcast schedule will be announced in September. The complete 2013-14 NHL regular season schedule will be released at a later date.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals’ 48-game regular-season schedule for 2012-13 begins on Saturday, Jan. 19, at the Tampa Bay Lightning at 7 p.m., the National Hockey League announced today. The home season begins with Opening Night at Verizon Center presented by GEICO on Tuesday, Jan. 22, against the Winnipeg Jets at 7 p.m..

The schedule has the Capitals facing two teams in the Southeast Division five times each (Winnipeg and Carolina), two teams in the division four times each (Florida and Tampa Bay) and the remaining Eastern Conference opponents three times each. The Capitals will host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Verizon Center on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 3, at 12:30 p.m., marking the fourth year in a row that the Capitals will play on Super Bowl Sunday.

Capitals single-game tickets for the 2012-13 season go on sale Tuesday, Jan. 15, at 2 p.m. at 202-397-SEAT, on WashingtonCaps.com, at Kettler Capitals Iceplex and at all local Ticketmaster outlets, including the Verizon Center box office. In addition, from 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 15, through 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 13, the Capitals will pay all convenience fees for individual tickets purchased (excluding processing and delivery fees).

Among the ticket options available is the Washington Capitals Pregame All-Inclusive Package, which starts at $89 per package and includes a game ticket, a pregame all-you-can-eat buffet in the Dewar’s 12 Club, unlimited beer, wine and soda, a Caps hat and a Caps rally towel. Also available is the Washington Capitals Rinkside All-Inclusive Package, which starts at $99 per package and includes a game ticket, an all-you-can-eat buffet in the Rinkside Club available through the second intermission, unlimited beer, wine and soda and a Caps jersey T-shirt. A new package available this season is the Hard Times Chili Mac Pack, which starts at $189 and includes four tickets, four Caps hats and four Chili Mac cards redeemable at Hard Times.

For more information on Capitals tickets contact 202-266-CAPS or visit WashingtonCaps.com.

Washington has four homestands of three games on the schedule, the first from Feb. 1-5 (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Toronto). The Capitals have three stretches of at least three straight road games and a season-high four-game road trip from March 19-24 (Pittsburgh, Winnipeg twice and the New York Rangers). In addition, the Capitals will have eight sets of back-to-back games.

Nearly half of the Capitals’ 24 home games at Verizon Center fall on weekends, which include five games on Sundays, four games on Saturdays and one game on Friday. The Capitals conclude the regular season with three consecutive home games (Winnipeg, Ottawa and Boston).

All but four of Washington’s home games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m., with three Sunday and one Saturday afternoon games scheduled.

Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis released this statement Sunday to Caps fans after the news that the NHL & NHLPA agreed to the framework of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement which will end the NHL lockout.

“We are extremely excited that the National Hockey League has reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement with the Players’ Association, pending final approval on both sides. This is certainly welcome news for all of us – fans, players, corporate partners, local businesses, broadcast rights holders, media, staff and owners– and especially our plan holders who have created such a fantastic Verizon Center atmosphere.

Thanks to all of you for your patience, support and understanding during this process. We will continue to be in touch as more information becomes available, and all of us at the Capitals look forward to seeing you at Verizon Center in the coming weeks.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Towson men’s basketball team will be seeking its second straight road win Saturday as the Tigers travel to the nation’s capital to take on No. 15 Georgetown.

The game is set to tip at 12 noon from the Verizon Center. It will be broadcast live on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) with Jason Knapp and Mark Tillmon on the call.

Towson (4-4) is off to its best start since the 2008-09 season. The Tigers picked up their first true road win of the season at Vermont (68-64) on Wednesday behind the stellar play of junior forward Jerrelle Benimon. The Georgetown transfer, who will be facing his former team for the first time, poured in a career-high 29 points against the Catamounts. He also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to register his fourth double-double in his last six games.

The Tigers boast the Colonial Athletic Associations second ranked scoring offense (66.6 ppg) and second ranked scoring defense (63.9 ppg). Towson also ranks Top 25 nationally in both rebounding margin (+9.1) and blocks per game (5.4).

Georgetown (6-1) has won three straight games since falling in overtime to No. 1 Indiana on November 20. The Hoyas are holding opponents to just 56.1 points per game and they’ve only allowed two teams to score more than 60 points this season.

Junior guard Markel Starks leads the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game, while sophomore forward Otto Porter is also a major threat as he’s averaging 12.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.

Although the Tigers are winless in their three previous meetings with the Hoyas, Towson has picked up three all-time wins over BIG EAST programs (Louisville, 1995; West Virginia, 1994; St. John’s, 1993).

Additionally, Georgetown has lost two of its previous three meetings against teams from the CAA. The Hoyas lost at home to Old Dominion in 2009 and fell to former league member Virginia Commonwealth in the 2011 NCAA Tournament.